e-learning
F. Khodadadi Azadboni; J. kamali
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The topic of electricity is often considered a challenging and abstract concept in physics. Learning non-intuitive scientific concepts can be challenging for students because they often hold incorrect conceptions about natural phenomena that lead them toward errors. Many students ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The topic of electricity is often considered a challenging and abstract concept in physics. Learning non-intuitive scientific concepts can be challenging for students because they often hold incorrect conceptions about natural phenomena that lead them toward errors. Many students struggle to understand the underlying principles and behaviors of electrical systems. Identifying and correcting misconceptions about electricity physics is essential for promoting meaningful learning and conceptual understanding. Nowadays, using technology in educational settings is considered an essential aspect of teaching and learning. Utilizing technology, such as simulation software like COMSOL, can help to visualize and better understand these concepts. This research has been done with the aim of identifying and correcting the misunderstandings of 11th-grade high school students in learning the concepts of electricity by simulating COMSOL software.Materials and Methods: The present research is an applied study in terms of its objective and a mixed-methods research in terms of its methodology. The qualitative section utilized content analysis to extract misconceptions about the concepts of electricity in physics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with SIX teachers using purposive sampling. Three types of coding, namely open, axial, and selective, were employed to extract the main misconceptions. The main misconceptions identified were Coulomb's law, the shape of field lines between two point charges, the electric field between capacitor plates, the motion of electric charges in an external electric field, charge distribution on surfaces, and the effect of an external electric field on conductive and non-conductive shells. Based on this pattern, a 6-item questionnaire was designed to validate the pattern of misconceptions about electricity concepts among students. The validation of the extracted pattern and the content validity of the questionnaire were assessed by experts in the field of physics education. The quantitative section of the research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The target population consisted of all male eleventh-grade students in high schools in Bojnurd city during the academic year 2022-2023. Using random sampling, 30 students were selected for each group. In the first stage, both groups took a pretest. Then, the experimental group received the independent variable (simulation-based learning using the COMSOL software) in six sessions of 90 minutes each. Meanwhile, the control group received traditional lecture-based instruction. After the intervention, both groups (experimental and control) took the dependent variable (the misconceptions test on electricity concepts). The data were analyzed using ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) with the help of SPSS software. Findings: The post-test results showed that in addition to correcting students' misconceptions and increasing their learning level, the use of computer and COMSOL simulation software helped them better understand the concepts and increased their concentration. The results of this analysis showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between the learning and progress of the experimental group and the control group. The errors of the experimental group changed significantly compared to the control group. In the topics under investigation, the minimum percentage of misconception correction in the experimental group was 46.66%. Meanwhile, the minimum percentage of misconception correction in the control group was observed to be 36.66%.Conclusions: The research results have demonstrated that Simulation software enables students to visualize and interact with abstract concepts, making them more tangible and easier to comprehend. By using COMSOL, students can manipulate different variables in electrical systems, observe the effects, and gain insights into the underlying principles. This hands-on approach can correct misconceptions and improve students' understanding of electricity in physics. By providing interactive and visual representations of electrical phenomena, simulation software can make the subject more accessible and engaging, leading to improved learning outcomes. According to the obtained results, it is suggested that educational technology and modeling using COMSOL software be promoted in teachers' professional development programs. This action can lead to the development of knowledge of educational content and the correction of misunderstandings of concepts.
e-learning
H. Pourmehdi Ghaemmaghami; A. Khaki Ghasr
Abstract
Background and Objectives: All academic fields, including architecture, were taught online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Architectural design studios were the most challenging courses offered online among all the architectural courses. The benefits and disadvantages of teaching in online design studios ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: All academic fields, including architecture, were taught online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Architectural design studios were the most challenging courses offered online among all the architectural courses. The benefits and disadvantages of teaching in online design studios have been studied through research on practitioner feedback. The current study focuses on the advantages of online studios and emphasizes the importance of verbal representation in the architectural design process. As verbal representation is utilized in the design process, with verbal description being one of its tools, the question arises: Is it feasible to enhance the verbal representation skills of architecture students, despite the limitations in content transmission and the challenges encountered during online studio delivery?Materials and Methods: The research methodology is qualitative. It is based on a systematic literature review and case study in which authors have used an autoethnography approach, sharing their experiences as online instructors during the COVID-19 crisis. The case study was carried out via thematic analysis supported by coding employing tactics including observations, memos, self-evaluation of students, and questionnaires. The research took place at Shahid Beheshti University's Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning for five academic semesters (2019-2022). The statistical population included 147 students (111 undergrads and 36 graduates). Findings: The results demonstrate that, due to the constraints of material sharing compared to face-to-face studios, architectural design online studios rely primarily on listening senses and linguistic skills. The results show an improvement in students' verbal representation (both oral and written), which varies depending on the studios. In online studios, 86% of students reported that their writing ability had improved, and 73% reported that their oral representation had improved. It is worth noting that students in online studios rate verbal representation in written format as the second most improved skill out of six. As a result, the level of usage and acceptability of written and oral representation in the creative process in online studios has not been consistent, and it may alter for various reasons. Some key points that make it successful include the instructor's preference for employing verbal description and representation in the studio, the student's potential in verbal description, the theme of the design studio, and where we are in the design process.Conclusions: Online architectural design studios provide students with the chance to improve their verbal representation skills. Additionally, one of the bases of delivering online studios is the ability to express ideas clearly via language, which also plays a compensating role during the design process in maintaining the studios' quality. Use of this feature in hybrid, online, or face-to-face studios could be part of future plans. The valuable tasks to be carried out should be defined and experienced in this context so that they can be implemented at the beginning, middle, or end of the design process. The practice of expressing the scenario, defining the design problem, writing the design statement, preparing sessions for reading descriptions from renowned authors' texts, as well as the sessions for critiquing the works of students and architects in the online studios in tutorial and judgment sessions, can be listed among them.
e-learning
R. Nejati
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Recognizing the unique requirements of online education is crucial due to its wide spread use. Self-regulation in learning seems essential for this instructional approach, as students and instructors are physically separated. To effectively manage their time, establish goals, ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Recognizing the unique requirements of online education is crucial due to its wide spread use. Self-regulation in learning seems essential for this instructional approach, as students and instructors are physically separated. To effectively manage their time, establish goals, and sustain motivation, individuals must adopt practical strategies. Active engagement in the learning process is also vital, requiring students to actively participate, contribute, and engage with instructors and peers. Assessing students' self-regulation and engagement can help educational managers and professors supervise the educational process and implement necessary measures when student participation is lacking. The objective of this study was to investigate how self-regulated learning and engagement contribute to outcomes of leaning as measured in terms of reading comprehension skills of Iranian students in online classrooms.
Materials and Methods: The study investigated research questions using two questionnaires and a test, namely, the Online self-regulation questionnaire (OSQ), the Online Student Engagement Scale (OSE), and the reading part of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The self-regulation questionnaire had three constructs with 10 items each, while the engagement questionnaire had four constructs with 19 items. These scales were translated into Persian and sent to 345 students. Out of the 287 returned questionnaires, 21 were excluded due to inattention. The remaining 266 responses, along with their test scores, were analyzed statistically. Both the questionnaires and the language test were administered via the LMS in 2022.
Findings: The data underwent a rigorous process of statistical analyses to evaluate reliability, construct validity, and the relationships between variables. These analyses aimed to ensure the accuracy and robustness of the findings. To assess reliability, Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were calculated for three key variables: Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading. The obtained coefficients were .89, .94, and .86, respectively. These values indicate high levels of internal consistency within each variable, suggesting that the measurement instruments used to assess these constructs were reliable. Construct validity was also examined through Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values for Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading. The reported RMSEA values were .08, .07, and .01, respectively. These values fall within an acceptable range, indicating that the measurement models adequately fit the observed data and supported the construct validity of the variables. All three variables (Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading) exhibited statistically significant t-values, providing strong evidence that students' engagement, self-regulation, and reading ability were deemed satisfactory based on the collected data. The analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between regulatory engagement and reading comprehension. This finding suggests that higher levels of regulatory engagement are associated with better reading comprehension skills among students. Additionally, a regression analysis was conducted to explore the associations between specific factors and reading comprehension. The results indicated that both 'performance' and 'student-student interactions' had strong and positive associations with reading comprehension. The beta coefficients for these variables were 0.25 and 0.21, respectively. This implies that improvements in performance and increased student-student interactions are related to enhanced reading comprehension abilities.
Conclusions: The relationship between regulatory engagement and reading comprehension holds significant implications for educators and policymakers. Understanding this connection is essential to develop effective interventions and instructional approaches aimed at enhancing students' regulatory engagement abilities, ultimately leading to improved reading comprehension outcomes. However, it is important to acknowledge that the study conducted had certain limitations that restricted its scope and prevented a thorough examination of all potential factors influencing reading comprehension skills. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the topic, future research should explore additional variables beyond regulatory engagement. For instance, considering the influence of cultural background on reading comprehension can provide valuable insights into how diverse learners may approach and interpret texts differently. Similarly, investigating various teaching methods employed in different educational settings can shed light on the effectiveness of specific instructional approaches in promoting reading comprehension. Furthermore, individual cognitive factors such as working memory and attentional control warrant attention in future studies. These cognitive processes play integral roles in reading comprehension, and exploring their impact can help identify strategies to support students with specific cognitive profiles or challenges.
e-learning
A. Fazel; A. Harandi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The use of digital technology for teaching and learning has been discussed for decades, but now and in the post-Corona era, due to the problems of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become the focus of many educational institutions. The effect of COVID-19, in a short period, brought ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The use of digital technology for teaching and learning has been discussed for decades, but now and in the post-Corona era, due to the problems of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become the focus of many educational institutions. The effect of COVID-19, in a short period, brought about a huge change in the way of education and learning and even completely blocked some educational activities. As a result, education administrators have turned to other alternatives to replace face-to-face or traditional learning. Virtual education is one of the very important and serious programs proposed and carried out by educational institutions in that era, now and in the post-Corona period. The quality of designing and providing virtual education, like face-to-face education, depends on several inputs such as the teacher, learner, technological tools and education design, financial resources system, educational policies, and so on. Among the listed factors, the lecturers of these courses are of special importance. Therefore, according to the change in the teachers’ role, their previous skills can no longer be answered, and teachers, in addition to acquiring the necessary skills in the traditional learning environment, need empowerment in various fields, which is the most important step in achieving this important identification. Today, few universities can improve and develop without providing training courses to empower their faculty members, and this is doubly important in the post-Corona period when universities place a lot of emphasis on virtual education. This is because in the Corona and post-Corona period the emphasis on virtual education in higher education and increasing its use, requires special knowledge, skills, and abilities for professors To achieve this, identifying the skills of lecturers in virtual education, it seems essential and paying attention to these skills will lead to the growth of professors and as a result, improve the quality of virtual education. In particular, there is no significant study for the post-Corona period in the context of the research topic, and there is no study on identifying and explaining the teaching skills of teachers for virtual education using the methods of content analysis and fuzzy Delphi. Therefore, the present study aims to identify and explain the skills of academic staff members in virtual education in the post-Corona period in a precise manner using the approaches of content analysis and fuzzy Delphi and presenting a conceptual model.Materials and Methods: This research is an applied and descriptive research and the combined research methods of interview, content analysis, and fuzzy Delphi were used to collect and analyze information. The statistical population of the research is 20 experts and professors of the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. Data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews. Then, all the interviews were analyzed with the method of content analysis, and the skills were extracted and identified. Then, skills were refined and explained in four survey stages using the fuzzy Delphi method.Findings: In the interview with the experts, two main questions were used to measure the skills and competencies of academic staff members for virtual education in the post-Corona period. The results of the qualitative section included 452 initial codes, which were reduced to 31 main codes and five main categories after data reduction and merging overlapping terms. These five main classes include moral-social, technical-technological, educational-learning, individual-managerial, and supervisory-supportive skills. Then, with a questionnaire, 31 identified skills were examined for refinement and confirmation in four stages. By examining the skills, the experts approved all of them with the fuzzy Delphi approach.Conclusions: In this study, it was determined that 31 skills are considered for virtual education teachers. In the meantime, we can safely say that 12 skills of social facilitation and appropriate counseling, conflict management, professional and ethical commitment, strategies and applications of learning theories, scholarly and research skills and knowledge sharing, skills to facilitate the teaching process, online lectures, encouraging and motivational skills, administrative and operational organizational skills, maintaining communication with students after completing the course, feedback, and monitoring learning activities, which were approved in the first round of the fuzzy Delphi method, are the most important skills of virtual education. Therefore, more emphasis should be placed on these skills in the post-Corona era in virtual courses.
e-learning
M. Abedini baltork; E. Salehi omran; N. Kolbadinezhad
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Massive open online courses as one of the latest educational technologies have caused fundamental and quality changes to educational processes at the level of different universities and it's expanding rapidly. Mooc entails an online learning environment that is considered as ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Massive open online courses as one of the latest educational technologies have caused fundamental and quality changes to educational processes at the level of different universities and it's expanding rapidly. Mooc entails an online learning environment that is considered as the latest revolution in online education and learning. These comprehensive learning courses have provided many people with access to knowledge that was not easy in the past. Mooc is a course aimed at highly interactive participation and open access via the Internet. Despite the importance of this issue, there is still no standard scale to measure Mooc-based Curriculum, so the current research was conducted with the aim of building and validating a curriculum scale based on Mooc in higher education.Methods: The research design is mixed method and the research method in the qualitative part is document review. In this regard, qualitative data was first collected and analyzed, then based on the qualitative results obtained, quantitative data was collected and analyzed and then the results of the quantitative part were used to better explain the qualitative findings. The statistical population also included Iranian and foreign sources in the field of virtual, electronic and Mooc education. In order to access texts and articles related to Persian and English keywords, curriculum, Mooc, virtual education, e-learning, online courses which are indexed in many internal electronic resources and electronic sources abroad were used to extract the latest sources related to the current research. Therefore, from 2000 to 2019, available and rich sources were studied in line with the current research and using the theme analysis method, 62 inclusive themes, 7 organizers and one comprehensive theme were discovered. The research method was quantitative, descriptive-survey and the statistical population consisted of 386 faculty members of University of Mazandaran. According to Morgan sampling table and based on relative stratified sampling, 181 people were selected as the sample. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative part, the content validity of which was 0.83 and the reliability was based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient and above 0.92. The research instrument was the Mooc curriculum scale with 7 subscales and 46 items on a five-point Likert scale.Findings: The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that Mooc-based curriculum includes managerial, technological, manpower issues, goal, content, teaching-learning strategies and evaluation. The values of TLI and CFI indices were at the desired level and higher than the cut-off point of 0.90. Therefore, the factor model had a good fit with the data.Conclusion: Since Mooc is a course that aims for a lot of interactive participation and free access through the Internet and is considered as a source for learning and training, it can be said that this method has many more attractions than the traditional methods. On the other hand, nowadays, the existence of numerous unreliable sources of information on the Internet has become a big challenge for people, and access to websites can help those who are looking for information, because its content is prepared by reputable institutions and it is easy to understand whether the source is reliable or not.
e-learning
M. Ruhi; F. Mahmoodi; K. Taghpour
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was surevying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Corona virus outbreak in higher education from the perspective of students of the faculty of educational sciences and psychology.Methods: The present study was an applied one in ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was surevying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Corona virus outbreak in higher education from the perspective of students of the faculty of educational sciences and psychology.Methods: The present study was an applied one in terms of its purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of the nature of the research. The statistical population of the present study consisted of students of educational sciences and psychology of university of Tabriz; according to the statistics received from the university, therer were 882 students. The Krejcie and Morgan table was used to determine the statistical sample size, based on which 268 participants were included in the sample using the available sampling method. A 79-item researcher-made questionnaire was given to the participants to gather the required data. To this end, after studying the relevant sources and background and interviewing several professors and students, the questionnaire items were extracted and divided into four sections: strengths (S), weaknesses (W), and opportunities (O) and threats (T). The content and face validity of the questionnaire were confirmed drawing on the experts’ opinions, especially the supervisors and advisors. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The reliability of each of the four components of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats was higher than 0.9, which was considered as an excellent level of reliability. To analyze the data, the proposed SWOT methods of Hossein, Adnan and Hossein (2014) were used.Findings: The results showed that considering the strengths, the item of informing higher education institutions of their virtual infrastructure deficiencies was ranked as the first with a percentage of normalized weight of 6.83; flexibility in training places with normalized weight percentage of 6.68 was put in the second place; the item related to facilitating access to the content with a percentage of normalized weight of 6.58 was in the third place. Considering the weaknesses, the impossibility of students’ access to the physical facilities of the university with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.35 was ranked as the first; the item of not being able to gain newer and different experiences that can only be acquired by attending universities was the second one with a normalized weight percentage of 5.29. third rank; moreover, lack of affective bonds among between the students and the instructirs was considered as the third item with a normalized weight percentage of 4.92. As regards the opportunities, the possibility of education for employees with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.71 was put in the first place; global learning opportunities for the new generation with a normalized weight percentage of 5.23 was ranked as the second item; the item related to creating integrated e-learning systems in the form of virtual learning environments with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.21 in was considered as the third item. With regard to the threats, the item of physical injuries (eye injury, backache, etc.) with a normalized weight percentage of 5.42 was ranked as the first one; The item related to the decrease of the relationship between the instructors and the students was the second one with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.26; and the item related to a decrease in the student-student interaction with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.21 was ranked as the third one. Finally, internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors were examined and strategies related to strengths-opportunities (SO), strengths-threats (ST), weaknesses-opportunities (WO) and weaknesses-threats (WT) were presented.Conclusion: According to the results, it is necessary to make the best use of the opportunities provided for e-learning and to develop e-learning infrastructure and expand the interactive learning environments to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities, in order to move education towards a growing and desired direction. In this regard, weaknesses and threats can be reduced by grouping students in accordance with the health protocols, utilizing project-based evaluations, as well as attracting financial resources to strengthen the required infrastructure.
e-learning
A. Moradi; S. Zarghami
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Online education is done on a virtual platform and through the Internet and its purpose is to provide opportunities for learning, and students' personal autonomy in the teaching-learning process is one of the contributing factors to achieve this goal. Therefore, one of the ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Online education is done on a virtual platform and through the Internet and its purpose is to provide opportunities for learning, and students' personal autonomy in the teaching-learning process is one of the contributing factors to achieve this goal. Therefore, one of the missions of universities is to educate students with personal autonomy to live in harmony with the values they have accepted and if they are not successful in educating such students, they will not achieve much success in the two fields of education and research. On the other hand, online education technology is not a neutral tool and can grow and develop some other dimensions in exchange for weakening some aspects of students' experience. The expansion of online education in universities can create emerging educational and upbringing opportunities for students, which requires philosophical study. There is no consensus on the role of online education in fostering personal autonomy. Some argue that the development of individual personal autonomy in online education has been neglected and they basically do not find online education suitable for simulating educational activities. Contrarily, the proponents believe that through the abundant equipment, facilities and capabilities of online education, the growth of students' individual self-government is possible. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of online education in deeloping students' personal autonomy with an emphasis on social constructivism.Methods: The present study is philosophical and of the type of conceptual and linguistic analysis and logical analysis. In the first step to answer the research question, our method is conceptual and linguistic analysis, which includes the analysis, interpretation and clarification of the concepts of online education on the one hand and the analysis of the concept of individual self-government and social constructivism on the other hand. In the second step, using the method of transcendental logical analysis, we examine the logical condition of using a concept. In the third step, the inferential method and the type of theoretical analogy are used to infer constructive and non-constructive evidence of online education in cultivating personal autonomy. The community of research resources included all documents, credential and resources related to online education, personal autonomy and social constructivism and sample sources included documents and evidences in Persian and Latin, print and electronic, valid and related to the subject and concepts of the research. Due to the nature of the research, the tools and methods of data collection included Fish sheets and using the Fishing method from the mentioned sources and the method of analyzing the collected data was qualitative and based on philosophical and logical analysis.Findings: Based on social constructivism, online education, on the one hand, with the development of lifelong learning, changing the teaching- learning process, the growth of the dimensions of personal autonomy and Flexibility in learning and the possibility of anonymity and concealment of students' identity has provided the ground for individual self-regulation. On the other hand, Online education due to the extreme trust in student ethical judgment, promoting student-centeredness, the prevalence of eclectic choice instead of conscious and free choice, students' pursuit of personal desires and the extreme growth of self-centeredness have played a non-constructive role in fostering individual self-government.Conclusion: Based on social constructivism and the simultaneous agency of technology and human beings, online education through changing the nature, interests and intentions of students can play a constructive or non-constructive role in cultivating their personal autonomy. But online education is not read in a specific compulsory format and can be read by different actors in different ways. Thus, it is possible for its actors to intervene, modify and direct the development process of online education in cultivating individual self-government. As a result, the non-constructive role of online education in fostering personal autonomy can be reduced and turned into opportunities by making more use of multimedia technologies and making the online learning environment more interactive.
e-learning
N. Mohammadhasani
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The biggest challenge posed by the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) to educational institutions was the force to make an unexpected transition from face-to-face to online learning. The abrupt closure of face-to-face education led academics towards experiencing "unfamiliar areas" ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The biggest challenge posed by the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) to educational institutions was the force to make an unexpected transition from face-to-face to online learning. The abrupt closure of face-to-face education led academics towards experiencing "unfamiliar areas" due to the need to adapt quickly to e-learning environments. In advance, the benefits of these environments increased the demand for their usage in higher education. But today, given the special circumstances of the outbreak of the Coronavirus, this sudden change has undoubtedly posed challenges for educational institutions Although these environments provide numerous opportunities for learning, they require the readiness to become familiar with a wide range of technologies, the lack of which, both for teachers and learners and at the organizational level, poses some challenges in the implementation of online learning. In this regard, the present study was conducted to explore the challenges of faculty members in teaching and managing online learning environments.Methods: The present study was conducted adopting a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. The target population of the study included the faculty members of Kharazmi University. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data collection process continued until the theoretical saturation was reached, based on which 19 interviews were conducted. The final reliability and validity criteria were used to confirm the validity and reliability of the data.Findings: The results of the study led to the identification of the following categories: communication and interaction, presence and engagement, technical issues, quality, skill, evaluation, economic issues, time, and organizational challenges. As an important result, data analysis referred to the synergy and interrelationship of categories and the effects that they had on the quality of online learning. The most common codes were related to the categories of communication and interaction and presence and engagement, which were related to the category of skills and influenceed other categoriesConclusion: The analysis of the interviews showed that, it is possible to reach high-quality online learning by prioritizing these challenges and paying attention to key components. The emergence or consideration of these challenges, as well as their impact on each other, leads us to map the relationship among these challenges. The results of the analysis emphasize the need to pay attention to the sudden changes in the category of time, the emergence of related challenges, and the division of challenges into faculty members-related items individually or in relation to organizational challenges that include skill and quality. Now that the Coronavirus pandemic resulted in the rapid digitalization of higher education around the world, identifying and overcoming the challenges of entering or adapting to online environments is essential to guarantee the quality of the future of higher education.
e-learning
K. Taghipour; F. Mahmoodi; M. abbasi; M. Mohammadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the Iranian education has entered the field of providing instruction in Corona pandemic conditions without having the necessary preparations and planning, examining the digital divide and knowing how to implement the instruction in these circumstances can improve the quality of instruction in schools. Accordingly, the current study was conducted with the intention of evaluating the amount of digital divide in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the condition of COVID-19 pandemic and identify the factors affecting it.Methods: The descriptive survey research was used. The study population included all teachers and students of second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the second semester of the academic year of 2019- 2020 who were randomly selected using cluster-random sampling method in three schools from each of the five educational districts and the 12th grade class from each school. The data were collected using the questionnaires of Hosseini et al. (2013), Gregg (2016), Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015). The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts in this field. The reliability of the questionnaires was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for Hosseini et al. (2013), Grieg (2016), and Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015) questionnaires which were calculated to be 0.796, 0.86, and 0.92, respectively. Multivariate Analysis of Variance, independent T-Test and Friedman Test were used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that there is digital divide between the teachers of the five educational districts of Tabriz city only in the amount of access to ICT and the amount of the usage of computers during the day. However, there is a significant difference between students in five educational districts of Tabriz city in most dimensions of digital divide, access to ICT, the usage of computers during the day and the year, and the level of their skills in using ICT. Teachers, as compared to students, have more access to ICT in most educational districts of Tabriz, but students' attitudes, skills, and their usage of ICT is better than those of the teachers in most districts of Tabriz city. According to the results related to the effective factors on the digital divide from the perspective of the teachers, the shortage of technical, financial, and economic equipment, cultural, motivational- educational weakness, and the shortage of management and planning infrastructures have been identified as the most important and effective factors on creating the digital divide in second secondary school of Tabriz City.Conclusion: According to the findings, the digital divide is evident in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city. It is essential that the Ministry of Education, in addition to equipping schools, sets up ICT centers in the disadvantaged areas for better access of teachers and students to ICT, as well as providing ICT-related skills training courses.
e-learning
J. Torkzadeh; M. Ahangari; M. Mohammadi; R. Marzooghi; S. Hashemi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Improving and enhancing the quality and effectiveness of e-learning in the universities require examining and recognizing the internal and external factors affecting it. To this end, certain models and frameworks have been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the e-learning ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Improving and enhancing the quality and effectiveness of e-learning in the universities require examining and recognizing the internal and external factors affecting it. To this end, certain models and frameworks have been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the e-learning system. However, the diversity of the dimensions of the effectiveness system in the literature and the multiplicity of the models not only implies a theoretical gap in this area but also it has challenged the operational and technical scopes of the issues. The purpose of this qualitative study is investigating and analyzing the external effectiveness components of e-learning in order to make a qualitative change in higher education system.Methods: In this study, it was attempted to thoroughly identify the components of evaluating the effectiveness of academic e-courses with a qualitative approach. The research method is qualitative, and in particular "qualitative case study”. Thus, the potential contributors to this study included all faculty members of Virtual Colleges of Shiraz Universities, Payam Noor, and Allameh Tabatabai University virtual education instructors and a number of content development specialists and educational designers (n = 25) who were selected based on purposeful sampling in terms of criteria (expertise and experience) and considering data saturation, In line with the aforementioned purpose, an interview was conducted with 25 experts in this field. Then, the obtained data were analyzed through the content analysis technique.Findings: In order to achieve this, by studying the models of blended and related exploratory learning and interviewing the experts and skillful professors of this field and analyzing the data extracted from such interviews, reviewing the documents, theoretical foundations, and research backgrounds of e-learning in the universities of the developed countries and Iran, the researcher has highlighted the influence that external effective evaluation components have on e-learning as an organizing content including twelve major themes with the following titles to be significant and necessary in the education system: economizing and increasing productivity; the dynamics and flexibility related to the new educational developments and technologies; cultivation of organizational e-learning; competitiveness of the products; training and employment of human resources specialized in e-learning; identifying and responding to environmental needs; lifelong learning; realization of patterns of competence; realizing the goals and excellence of the beneficiary organization; promotion of professional capabilities in the workplace; strengthening technical and vocational education; and success, effectiveness, and competitiveness of the learners. The results were validated using data matching method, the validity, the reliability and reliability of the research data. In the next step, the researcher used content validity index (CVI) to determine the relevance and necessity of themes and the extracted organizing theme. The validity and reliability criteria were used to validate the framework. Four criteria for adaptation, intelligibility, generalizability and control were used to determine the acceptability of the proposed framework. Certainly, knowledge of these components can be necessary and reliable in properly evaluating the overall effectiveness of the e-learning courses.Conclusion: After summing up the findings of this study, it is shown that evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning is a comprehensive cycle that is not just limited to evaluating the effectiveness of what is done within the e-learning system. Rather, it should be seen whether the e-learning system has been able to respond to the needs of the society and to fulfill the mission intended for the organization or not. In this study, 12 components were identified to evaluate the external effectiveness of the university e-learning system, and the study and evaluation of each of these components can indicate different dimensions of the external effectiveness of e-learning. Also, the interaction between external and internal levels of e-learning effectiveness and the interaction between the two levels were investigated and analyzed. The limitations of the present study were that the findings were not collected in the field and in the operational scene, and that there were no similar comprehensive samples to be further compared and studied.
e-learning
M. Mohammadi; Z. Khoshneshin; N. Mohammadhasani
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Gamification means the use of elements and mechanics of a game in a non-game environment increasingly used in learning environments as a way to increase student motivation and learning outcomes. While several studies have been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of gamification ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Gamification means the use of elements and mechanics of a game in a non-game environment increasingly used in learning environments as a way to increase student motivation and learning outcomes. While several studies have been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of gamification in education. But there are blind spots regarding the precise application of gamification elements using new educational tools in various educational fields. In this study, using the educational tools of Kahoot and Mentimeter with focus on the leaderboard, the effect of the elements of competition and has been investigated cooperation on learning and approach motivation of math lesson. Methods: The statistical population of the study included all fourth-grade male students in Divandarreh in the academic year 2020-2021. The study sample was selected using the available sampling method from the classes of the city. consisting of two classes of 20 people and placed in experimental groups. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test design. The research instruments included researcher-made learning tests and Aminifar and SalehSadeghpour motivation questionnaire whose reliability coefficient was calculated with Cronbach's alpha criterion for learning test 0.93 and approach motivation 0.81. The learning environment of the experimental groups was presented simultaneously and separately surveyed for ten sessions using the educational tools of Kahoot and Mentimeter were influenced by gamification’s elements of competition and cooperation. Findings: Mean and standard deviation indexes were used to evaluate descriptive statistics. The difference between the mean pre-test and post-test learning of students who were trained in a gamified environment using Kahoot the competition-based educational tools was 19.45 and in a gamified environment using Mentimeter educational tools based on the cooperation element was 23.9. In the variable of approach motivation, the difference between the mean of pre-test and post-test obtained in the gamified environment using Kahoot educational tools based on the competition element was 4.95 and in the gamified environment using Mentimeter educational tools based on the cooperation element was 8.1. respectively. Based on the results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the variances were equal and the normality of the data distribution was confirmed. According to the results of the variance homogeneity test, since the significance level is greater than (0.05), the null hypothesis based on variance homogeneity was confirmed and the assumption of variance homogeneity was confirmed at a 95% confidence level. Data analysis by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANOVA) in SPSS statistical package showed that with a significance level of less than 0.05 and a 95% confidence level, there was a significant difference between the use of Kahoot and Mentimeter educational tools based on competition and cooperation gamification’s elements in learning and students' approach motivation. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the opposite hypothesis is based on the inequality of the average learning rate and approach motivation in a gamified environment with a focus on the leaderboard using the teaching tools of Kahoot and Mentimeter based on the elements of competition and cooperation, was accepted. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the application of the Mentimeter educational tool based on cooperation element, compared to Kahoot educational tool based on competition element, has a more significant effect on student's learning and approach motivation in the gamified environment. Therefore, it is better to design gamified learning.
e-learning
M. Masoomifard; , M. Mahmodi; M. Parsa Sirat
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Technological teaching methods in today's world, such as flipped teaching, as an important and integral part of the set of teaching-learning activities, have created unique opportunities for teachers to teach better and use different teaching approaches according to the needs ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Technological teaching methods in today's world, such as flipped teaching, as an important and integral part of the set of teaching-learning activities, have created unique opportunities for teachers to teach better and use different teaching approaches according to the needs of each student to help them learn more. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of flipped approach and traditional teaching method on the learning rate and the academic self-efficacy of Persian lessons for the second-grade elementary students.Methods: This is applied research in terms of purpose and a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test in terms of nature. The statistical population included all female students in the second grade of elementary school in district 4 of Tehran in the academic year of 2018-2019. Sampling was done randomly in multi-stage clusters. Two classes were selected as the research sample of the study with 25 students in one class and 35 students in the other. All students were pre-tested and then distributed homogeneously in both classes. In one of the classes, the Persian lessons were taught using flipped instruction (an advanced teaching approach based on information and communication technology), and in the other class, the same lessons were taught utilizing the traditional teaching method (a conventional way of teaching including lectures, questions and answers) and then the post-test was taken. It should be noted that all students who received flipped method had at least one electronic device such as a tablet, cell phone, DVD or CD player and computer at home in order to watch the videos and have classroom feedback the next day. Data collection instruments to assess the level of learning Persian lessons included the researcher-made Academic Achievement Questionnaire for the Persian lessons of the second-grade elementary school. Also, the data collection instrument to measure the students' self-efficacy was the Standard Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (MJSES), the content validity of which was confirmed by twelve educational experts while the reliability of both scales was evaluated and confirmed by the statistical tests.Findings: The results of the analysis of covariance showed that the flipped instruction had a positive effect on the learning rate and self-efficacy of the second grade elementary students in the experimental group; that is the rate of learning and self-efficacy of the students who have learned the Persian lessons of second grade elementary school by the flipped approach, has been higher than the students who have learned the Persian lessons by the traditional teaching method including questions and answers.Conclusions: Using the flipped instruction as a new technological teaching method can strengthen individual learning and increase students' sense of self-efficacy more than the traditional teaching method. Since the learner actively learns by engaging with the content of the lessons before attending the classroom, she/he can participate in the class with more readiness. It means that his or her previous preparation leads to deeper learning and a sense of efficiency. Therefore, using this technological teaching method especially during the corona pandemic while attending the classes is limited is recommended and it should be included at the top of the education agenda in order to deepen students' learning experiences in Persian lessons.
e-learning
S. Torkashvand; B. Yarigholi; V. Moradiyan Mohammadieh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: With the growth of new information technologies, educational systems have also undergone changes in terms of using new technologies in teaching and learning. New educational technologies have the potential to provide free education around the world and to achieve educational ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: With the growth of new information technologies, educational systems have also undergone changes in terms of using new technologies in teaching and learning. New educational technologies have the potential to provide free education around the world and to achieve educational justice. But in developing and underdeveloped countries, due to their many challenges, a digital divide has been created between the rich and the poor cities which, in itself, has led to educational injustice. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to explain the challenges of the digital divide on the implementation of educational justice in order to solve the problems leading to the realization of educational justice in the country.Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical study. Therefore, it is a qualitative research and philosophical analysis. The research approach is analytical and critical. The method of data collection is library- documentary. The research population includes all the studies that had examined the digital divide and educational justice and by investigating the background, 30 research studies directly related to this context were found. The data analysis method was researcher-oriented. The validity of the data was obtained based on the analysis of experts' views. The reliability of the study was in line with the findings of other studies.Findings: The findings of the study indicate that various challenges have affected the digital divide and educational injustice. The challenges that have caused the digital divide in the country's education systems are as follows: governance-infrastructure challenges, educational, cultural and economic challenges. The governance-infrastructure challenge has been analyzed based on the Communication and Information Technology Development Index and shows inequality in the sub-indicators of access, usage and skills among the provinces of the country. Thus, the central provinces are in the top rank and the deprived and border provinces are in the last rank in all three sub-indicators. The educational challenge is also based on components such as the low level of digital literacy of teachers and families, centralized educational management, educational policy-making and reliance on traditional teaching methods. The cultural challenge is also based on components such as gender, race and language. Economic challenge is also based on components such as: low income of families, poverty, priority of earning a living on learning and expensive educational technology tools. Solutions to overcome each of these challenges can be listed as follows: raising the level of digital literacy in students and parents, strengthening the motivation to compete and strive, emphasizing e-learning methods and using new technology in teaching. Also, some other solutions such as upgrading the bandwidth of using the Internet, investing in human resources and developing the internal Internet such as providing Internet access points in every school and library, providing low-interest loans for public equipment in rural areas and urban slums, measures to reduce equipment prices (tax exemption, subsidies provision) and low-interest loans for low-income families, free web education sessions for the deprived, providing free Internet address for all students.Conclusion: The findings show that the digital divide can be examined at three levels: local, national and global. At all three levels, four elements are involved in the digital divide, namely education, economy, governance, and culture. Therefore, in order to get out of the digital divide and achieve educational justice in the country's educational system, we must first identify the gaps, and then take action to eliminate them. Therefore, the country's education system can achieve its ultimate goal, which is a fair society, when it can eliminate the problems facing justice.
e-learning
P. Hessari; F. Chegeni
Abstract
Background and Objectives: E-learning is the newest form of distance learning and is an approach to curriculum planning in which, in addition to using inclusive methods, computer tools and the Internet are used. Today, there is a growing attention paid to the e-learning approach to learning and teaching ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: E-learning is the newest form of distance learning and is an approach to curriculum planning in which, in addition to using inclusive methods, computer tools and the Internet are used. Today, there is a growing attention paid to the e-learning approach to learning and teaching in order to meet the changes and challenges facing higher education. This is an approach that is specifically tailored to the new education and improves education in the higher education environment. Numerous components are effective in learning and teaching in the method of virtual education and also the effect of virtual teaching and learning in the courses having different content is different. These topics have inspired the researchers to study the nature of e-learning in various courses. This study seeks to identify the impact of virtual education in the field of architecture. Architecture education at different levels is an aspect of higher education that has a special method and process due to the role and position of professionals of this field in the country. The nature of this field is different from other fields due to being taken without practical and theoretical courses. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explain the status of virtual education in the field of architecture and specifically in the practical and theoretical courses of this field which are derived from the practical and theoretical nature.Methods: This research is applied in terms of its purpose and descriptive in nature and of survey type. The data collection instruments in this study are both quantitative and qualitative. The statistical population of this research is 78 undergraduate students of architecture in the University of Torbat Heydarieh. Data collection tools in this study include qualitative and quantitative cases. The software named Statistica and a questionnaire were used to assess the impact of e-learning on practical and theoretical courses in architecture. The questionnaire used in the research was anchored on a five Likert scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to check the validity or reliability of the questionnaire. In order to analyze the data in this study, the collected information was inserted into SPSS software and then the data were analyzed at both descriptive and inferential levels.Findings: The findings of this study show that the six indicators of interactivity, interpretation, peer support, understanding all aspects of a subject, communication and teacher support are effective in virtual education in the field of architecture and its practical and theoretical courses.Conclusion: The present study focuses on the effect of virtual education on practical and theoretical courses in architecture at the university. The results obtained in this study can be useful for learning environments as well as other courses in general. This study reveals that virtual education has many effects on learning architecture and having more interaction in this field and in practical and theoretical courses, but the effectiveness of the components related to virtual education in both practical and theoretical courses are different from each other. Moreover, in the theoretical courses, the effectiveness of e-learning is far greater than in practical courses.
e-learning
M. Ahmadi deh qutbuddini; M. S. Hosseini zaydabad; E. Mahmoodabadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Research evidence shows that technology is not being utilized effectively within classrooms and there are many instructors who feel unprepared to implement ICT. This realization is alarming since the use of technology in classrooms has had a muted impact on educational processes ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Research evidence shows that technology is not being utilized effectively within classrooms and there are many instructors who feel unprepared to implement ICT. This realization is alarming since the use of technology in classrooms has had a muted impact on educational processes and outcomes. This could be interpreted to mean that technology is not positively changing test scores, which have become a major indicator in the accountability movement over the past 30 years. Technology is however positively increasing student engagement which arguably is one of the significant tasks in the education of learners. Instructors are among the key players in any effective integration of technology in the instructional process. The ICT offer instructors an opportunity to provide learners with innovative new virtual environments that can hopefully stimulate and enhance the learning process. Professionally, instructors are expected to harness the affordances of technology to support effective teaching and related activities. As the role of technology in teaching and learning becomes more prominent, so will the demands on instructors to engage technology in carrying out their duties. Integrating technology as combining technology with teaching and learning strategies is done in order to meet the curriculum standards and learning outcomes of each lesson. One of the issues that should be considered is the effect of integration of technology in teaching process by instructors on the acceptance and application of technology in student learning, which can facilitate students' learning. This study aimed to investigate the role of students' perception of ICT integration in teaching by instructors on students' acceptance and use of ICT for learning as well as the mediating role of students' beliefs, attitudes and intention in the relationship between students' perception of ICT integration in the teaching process by instructors and actual usage of ICT for learning.Methods: This research is a correlational research method and a sample of 201 students of Islamic Azad and Payam Noor universities was selected by a multistage cluster sampling method. The required data were collected by the TAM questionnaire and scale of students' perception of ICT integration in the teaching process. The data were analyzed by path analysis methodFindings: The results showed that the direct effect of students' perception of ICT integration in the teaching process by instructors on attitude, perceived ease, and usefulness of ICT for learning is positive and significant and on actual usage of ICT for learning is negative and significant; but this effect on the behavioral intention of ICT use for learning is not significant. The results also showed that the behavioral intention of ICT use for learning, attitude toward ICT use for learning, perceived usefulness and ease of ICT use for learning had a positive and significant mediating role in the relationship between students' perception of ICT integration in the teaching process by the instructors and actual usage of ICT for learning by the student.Conclusion: According to the results, the perceived ease and usefulness of using ICT for learning by the student can facilitate the effect of students' perception of the integration and use of ICT in the teaching process by the instructors on the actual usage of ICT for learning by students.
e-learning
M. Mohammadian; M. Sedighi; M. Serkani
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Deploying IoT-based education can allow students to explore the environment using embedded sensors. They can access educational materials and other information at any time. Teachers can also use wearable devices and smartphones in the classroom to improve teaching and learning. ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Deploying IoT-based education can allow students to explore the environment using embedded sensors. They can access educational materials and other information at any time. Teachers can also use wearable devices and smartphones in the classroom to improve teaching and learning. Although new technologies such as smart schools, e-learning, e-learning content and smart classroom equipment have had a positive impact on the process of teaching and conveying concepts to learners, they have not been able to meet the challenges in this area well enough. Since the Internet of Things, in addition to using the mentioned technologies through technology convergence such as cloud computing, massive data, blockchain, smart phones, objects and classroom environment, etc. has a tremendous effect on the education industry by creating new teaching and learning methods, developing the systems of monitoring and control and improving the decisions through data analysis, it is argued that the IoT can empower the education sector to solve the problems and challenges it faces by providing practical solutions.Methods: This research is an applied research in terms of purpose and it is based on mixed methods research (qualitative- quantitative) considering how the data are collected. At the beginning of the research, the Meta-synthesis method was used to identify the applications of the IoT in education. In this method, 4638 articles were found, and after being reviewed, 490 articles were extracted among these 128 articles were used for the final analysis. Also, using the questionnaire as a tool to prioritize the Internet of things applications in education, the best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method was used.Findings: The findings showed that applications such as "Smart Campus" and "Student Health" have the highest priorities, respectively. Applications such as "Education (Teaching) and Learning", "Smart Class" and "Smart Tracking or Intelligent Transportation stsyem" were the next priorities.Conclusion: According to the findings, suggestions can be made to solve the problems of the education industry. In the field of application, with the help of IoT technology, there are problems such as the limitation of education to one place and time, wasting class time due to high density of people, lack of intelligence and high maintenance costs of educational centers, lack of accurate monitoring of students' health and hygiene, and the inadequacy of educational facilities for the physically disabled reducing the lack of smartness of the transportation system. Education industry policymakers can also be advised to pay special attention to these areas, given that the areas of "smart health monitoring", "smart energy" and "security" are more important than other sub-applications and they should also pay attention to these special sections. Also, action should be taken for public education and extensive publicity in familiariing the society with smart products and IoT technology in order to increase user acceptance and create demand. Among the limitations of the research, the limited number of experts familiar with IoT technology in the country's education sector vcan be mentioned. It is suggested to examine the relationships between applications and sub-applications and their priority based on the feasibility and attractiveness of the indicators in the future research.
e-learning
H. Deldar; M. R. Razavi; M. A. Faghih Nia
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Adolescence is the transition from childhood to adulthood in which physical, emotional, and social maturity occurs and the adolescent's mental abilities and cognitive and emotional abilities are formed. According to the existing studies, children and adolescents make up the ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Adolescence is the transition from childhood to adulthood in which physical, emotional, and social maturity occurs and the adolescent's mental abilities and cognitive and emotional abilities are formed. According to the existing studies, children and adolescents make up the largest audience of the media, and therefore the media and social networks play an important role in socializing adolescents. There are two ways to protect adolescents from the cultural and ideological damage of the media: one is to censor information technology and the other is to increase adolescents' knowledge and skills in dealing with the media (media literacy). This study aimed to determine the effect of media literacy training on the use of social media and the improvement of emotional maturity.Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental using a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all high school students in Sangan in the academic year 2018-2019 (N = 705). Based on the inclusion criteria, 30 of these students were purposefully selected and randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control with 15 students in each. The instruments used to perform the pre-test for both groups were: social network addiction questionnaire and the Emotional Maturity Scale (EMS). Then, the experimental group received media literacy training in 4 months and 8 sessions. The control group received no training in this period. After completing these 4 months, both groups were examined in the post-test. Research data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and SPSS 22 software.Findings: The results showed that media literacy training significantly reduced the use of social networks and improved students' emotional maturity in five general factors of emotional immaturity (emotional instability, emotional return, social incompatibility, personality collapse and lack of independence) in the experimental group.Conclusion: In general, the results of this study showed a positive and significant effect of media literacy training in reducing dependence on social networks and increasing students' emotional maturity. In other words, by participating in media literacy training sessions, students were able to reduce their dependence on social networks and it also increased their emotional maturity. Therefore, it can be said that media literacy and its education to adolescents could greatly reduce the incidence of psychological problems and injuries. This study examined the role of media literacy on emotional maturity and the degree of dependence on social networks in a specific population simultaneously. This study further examined the role of media literacy on improving emotional maturity and the use of social networks in a specific population simultaneously. One of the limitations of this study was the time and place limit for conducting a two- to three-month follow-up examination to evaluate the duration of the effect of media literacy skills training.
e-learning
M. Badali; M. Dehghani
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The outbreak of the disease in Wuhan, China, called Corona, caused a crisis in regional and global public health, which led to changes in most aspects of life. Due to social distancing and protection from the disease, the method of education changed; it also led to reducing ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The outbreak of the disease in Wuhan, China, called Corona, caused a crisis in regional and global public health, which led to changes in most aspects of life. Due to social distancing and protection from the disease, the method of education changed; it also led to reducing the learning and academic performance of students. Students in higher education have also been severely affected by the virus due to travel restrictions and social distancing, isolation measures, quarantine, closure of university campuses and closure of borders, which also damaged students' academic motivation. Delaying admission to university was one of the biggest challenges. A review of research has shown during COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of learning and academic motivation declined, so there seemed to be a need for an educational solution to address this issue. The electronic flipped classroom in Corona conditions could be considered. Although research indicated a better effect of the flipped classroom on learners' performance, it is not still clear how the electronic flipped classroom would lead to better performance and more research is needed. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the electronic flipped classroom on students' academic performance and motivation.Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design having experimental and control groups. From the educational students of Tehran University, 38 students were selected as the sample through convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The research instruments were a researcher-made performance test and an academic motivation questionnaire (Walrand et al., 1989). The sessions were held for both groups for three months weekly (a total of 12 sessions). The findings were analyzed using SPSS software version 23 and covariance method. It is noteworthy that before using the covariance method, its assumption was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the Levene's test.Findings: In this study, 38 students participated in two experimental and control groups, aged between 19 and 22 (M = 20.44, SD = 1.33), comparing the two groups with independent t-test (t = 0.651), showed that there was no significant difference between the mean age of the experimental group of 20.14 ± 0.70 and the control group of 20.68 ± 0.49. A total of 82% of the participants were girls. The results showed that the EFC had a significant effect on academic performance and academic motivation (P≤0.001), so that after the experimental intervention, the mean of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group in both variables.Conclusion: The EFC affects students' academic performance and motivation. Therefore, use the EFC improves academic performance and motivation as well as the success of e-learning.
e-learning
F. Hashemi; S.A. Qureshi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the problems of students in elementary school is lack of comprehension skill which has led to poor performance in all areas of learning. E-learning, as a strategy based on searching and constructing concepts, forces learners to think at high levels so that they can analyze ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: One of the problems of students in elementary school is lack of comprehension skill which has led to poor performance in all areas of learning. E-learning, as a strategy based on searching and constructing concepts, forces learners to think at high levels so that they can analyze and apply complex information; thereby, they can create an engaging online teaching and learning strategy. E-learning environments are unlimited in designing activities and engaging learners to satisfy their intuition and curiosity. Learning in this way improves thinking skills at high orders, which include content thinking, critical thinking, creative thinking and comprehension. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of educational factors that are based on e-learning environments on the comprehension skill of sixth grade elementary students in the academic year 2019-2020.Methods: The research has been done in two parts: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative section, by using the qualitative content analysis method, internal and external characteristics of educational factors that are based on e-learning environments were extracted from relevant sources and studies and approved by experts in the form of a model. The statistical population of the study consisted of 22854 students of the sixth grade of elementary school of Qom Province, among which 90 students from 3 schools were selected using available sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Then, in order to investigate the effect of these characteristics on students' learning, a quasi-experimental method was used with three groups (experimental group: 30 students, control group one: 30 students and control group two: 30 students). Research instruments and materials included educational multimedia with the same content but with a different pattern of educational factors as well as learning test questions. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance.Findings: The results indicate higher average scores of the experimental group (educational factor with internal and external characteristics) as compared to those of the control groups and also higher comprehension of the control group one (educational factor without internal and external characteristics) than that of the control group two (multimedia without educational factor). According to the results of dynamic speech research (pausing and raising and lowering the voice of the agent), personalized speech (informal speech instead of formal) and human voice as compared to computer voice are more acceptable and lead to better comprehension. The proximity of the competence of the agent and the learner, the skill that is proportionate with that of the learner and the variable role of the educational factor (motivator, expert and coach) lead to more learning.Conclusion: Educational factors can create rich learning environments to engage and motivate the learners. Based on the findings, it is concluded that in designing educatrional factors in multimedia, design instructions that are based on the internal and external characteristics of educational factors should be considered. Moreover, designers and manufacturers of multimedia educational software are recommended to use the standards and scientific principles in this field when designing and producing multimedia.
e-learning
A. Babajani; َA. Sharif; M. Hassanzadeh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The use of social media is expanding among students and different age groups. According to the published statistics, 67% of Iranian users of social networks are 12 to 17 years old. These people are of school age and most of them are students. Due to the few activities in the ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The use of social media is expanding among students and different age groups. According to the published statistics, 67% of Iranian users of social networks are 12 to 17 years old. These people are of school age and most of them are students. Due to the few activities in the field of design and development of scientific social network for this age group, the need to pay attention to the design and implementation of social networks for students according to their needs and based on the values of the Iranian society is felt more than ever. The purpose of this study is to identify the essential features of the student scientific social network at three levels: classroom, general and games and five management capabilities including identity information management, content management, communication management, search management and information management. Based on the aforementioned purpose, one question and four hypotheses were made.Methods: As applied research, this study was carried out using exploratory mixed methods (qualitative-quantitative). In the qualitative stage, observation and structured interview were used as the basis of collecting data. The international scientific social networks were observed to develop the draft of interview questions and the relevant documents. To conduct the interview, a sample of 15 experts were selected purposefully and exposed to the structured interview. Finally, based on an analysis of the content of the social networks and the data collected from the interviews, management capabilities and their specific indicators were categorized. In the quantitative section, the research method was surveying and the data collection tool was a questionnaire. The opinions of two groups, including 15 experts of the previous stage of the study and 43 information technology officials of smart schools in Tehran regarding the importance of the indicators obtained for each of the management capabilities, were collected and prioritized. To validate the collected data in the qualitative section, the review method both by the interviewees and the peers was used. In the quantitative section, the content validity was formally approved by the experts and the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.Findings: The identified indicators for managerial capabilities in the main sections of the student scientific social network include 36 indicators in the classroom section, 37 indicators in the general section and 20 indicators in the game section. In each of the tripartite sections, the indicators related to the quintuple managerial capabilities were categorized. 11 indicators related to identifying information management are common to all three sections. The findings of the study show the importance of all indicators identified in the main sections of the student scientific social network. The highest average score obtained is related to the game section with an average of 8.66 versus an average of 8.30 for the general section and 8.45 for the classroom section. However, the degree of importance of those indicators is not the same for the respondents, and, accordingly, the indicators were prioritized. The total score of the indicators of the game section is more than the two general and classroom sections and the game capabilities can be used to advance educational goals. Moreover, it is possible to use the game factors and the capabilities that have been found in this study to further strengthen and support the students’ curriculum and general education.Conclusion: The presence of appropriate indicators for the use of information literacy capabilities in the scientific social network, as well as the use of motivational and playful factors such as point wins can help to increase student participation in educational activities. The possibility of sharing learning problems, class participation in content production, providing information about the activities of friends and groups, the possibility of defining competitions and urban challenges, the possibility of sharing social issues and proposing challenges and competitions based on interests which, in this study, have been recommended as appropriate indicators in different sections of social network, can help in strengthening group participation, project-oriented learning, and group problem-solving. Also, sharing and communication capabilities can provide different students with equal opportunities to grow and learn. The framework proposed in this research can be used to evaluate the existing student scientific social networks. It can also provide a framework for designing and developing software for the student scientific social network based on the local characteristics and imitating the model of similar international student social networks.
e-learning
F. Zamani; B. Talebi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The use of information and communication technology in schools is one of the symbols of classroom intelligence which has become more prominent with the advent of virtual social networks and has become widespread with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. One of the major ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The use of information and communication technology in schools is one of the symbols of classroom intelligence which has become more prominent with the advent of virtual social networks and has become widespread with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. One of the major results of this pandemic is that the application of information and communication technology in schools can lead to the promotion of students' academic engagement. The purpose of this study is to explain the effects of language learners' use of social networks on their academic engagement in learning the English language.Methods: This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and correctional in nature. The statistical population in this study includes all of the 1874 language learners in Iran Language Center - Tabriz Branches, who were studying English in the spring semester of 2016. From this number of students, based on Krejcie and Morgan table, 204 people including 90 girls and 114 boys were selected, first using the stratified random sampling method equally according to the branches of the Center and in the next stage, using the relative stratified random sampling method according to gender. The criteria for inclusion in the study were regular class attendance and taking the mid-term and final exams as well as the interest in continuing participating in the research and providing the required information. Moreover, the criteria for exclusion from the study were lack of class attendance or lack of interest in providing the required information. The instruments used in this study were the Academic Engagement Questionnaire (α₌0.96) and the Educational Use of Social Networks Questionnaire (α₌0.96). Both questionnaires are based on the Likert scale and 5 degrees. In order to analyze the data, the test of structural relationships and prediction with PLS software at the significance level of 0.05 was used.Findings: Descriptive statistics showed that the average academic engagement was 93.82 ±14.2, the average behavioral engagement was 30.27 ± 4.41, the average emotional engagement was 33.8 ± 5.8, the average cognitive engagement was 29.57 ± 5.47, the average educational use of social network for classroom activities was 22.97 ± 9.7, the average educational use of the social network for extracurricular activities was 33.38 ± 8.95 respectively. The use of structural relationships test with PLS software showed that there was an increase in the students' academic engagement, behavioral engagement and emotional engagement with increasing their educational use of social network for classroom activities (p₌0.05). Moreover, there was an increase in academic engagement and emotional engagement of students with an increase in their educational use of social network for extracurricular activities (p₌0.05). The effects of learners’ educational use of social networks for classroom activities on their cognitive engagement and the effect of the learners' educational use of social networks for extracurricular activities on their behavioral engagement and cognitive engagement were not significant (p >0.05). According to the corrected coefficient of determination (0.17), changes in academic engagement can be predicted based on the educational use of language learners of the social network.Conclusion: By increasing the use of technologies based on virtual social networks in the classroom, principled planning and appropriate content regulation can improve academic engagement in language learners. Launching various educational software applications during the Covid-19 pandemic is a good opportunity for appropriate use of information and communication technology in schools and foreign language classes in language teaching centers which will be a good investment to promote academic engagement in language classrooms.
e-learning
F. Fadaei; H. Kalantari Dehaghi; M. Abdollahzadeh Rafi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Helping children with learning disabilities in the first years of school by using attractive, technological, and accessible solutions is essential to overcome these problems in many situations, such as the pandemic of Covid-19 to help educators in the achievement of their goals. ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Helping children with learning disabilities in the first years of school by using attractive, technological, and accessible solutions is essential to overcome these problems in many situations, such as the pandemic of Covid-19 to help educators in the achievement of their goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of consecutive letter presentation, using a computer-based method on the improvement of the reading ability of dyslexic elementary students.Methods: The research method is quantitative, within the framework of single-subject research projects, and A.B.A.B or Reversal Design. The population of the present study consisted of dyslexic students of Arak city who were studying in the academic year of 2019-2020. Six individuals (2 girls and 4 boys) were purposefully selected from this population. The research instruments were a researcher-made vocabulary checklist, Shirazi and Nilipour Reading Test (2004), Soleimani Phonological Awareness Test (2000) and Fast Naming Test. The research tool was researcher-made software prepared by Microsoft PowerPoint program and run in the final format of Adobe Captivate program in which the words were displayed and pronounced letter by letter, syllable by syllable and finally completely to the student. The research intervention lasted 4 weeks. In the first and third weeks, only the word reading test was administered every day. In the second and fourth weeks, the same tested words in the previous week were taught and exercised. Also, at the end of each week, the phonology test was repeated in the fifth session. Tests of fluency and accuracy of reading texts, phonological awareness, and rapid naming were also administered as pre/post-test before and after the intervention. The results were analyzed, using SPSS software and Wilcoxon and Friedman statistical tests.Findings: The findings showed that the use of computer-based method of presenting consecutive letters can improve the accuracy of reading words separately, as well as the accuracy and fluidity of reading the text; and the student will be able to read in a shorter time and with fewer errors. Also, this method showed significant and upward progress in the phonological awareness of dyslexic students during the intervention. It was also found that after using this method, students did the task of naming the colors with greater speed and fewer errors; indicating that this method had a significant positive effect on information processing speed.Conclusion: The intervention performed in this study, using the available software such as PowerPoint, was able to prove acceptable effectiveness in improving dyslexic students' reading skills, phonological awareness, and information processing speed. Predicting the budget and expert work force to produce content, or teaching the teachers how to prepare and use such programs can be on the agenda of primary educational centers. Also, research on more samples can increase the generalizability of the results.
e-learning
P. Alikhani; M. Rezaeizadeh; R. Shahverdi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess Shahid Beheshti University’s courseware in terms of technical, instructional, and counseling based on Khan’s e-learning framework through reflection on students’ experiences.Methods: The study used a grounded theory research ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess Shahid Beheshti University’s courseware in terms of technical, instructional, and counseling based on Khan’s e-learning framework through reflection on students’ experiences.Methods: The study used a grounded theory research design. The statistical population of the study was undergraduate students from Faculty of Education and Psychology who had taken Shahid Beheshti University's courseware. Participants were 32 students that were selected by purposeful criterion-based sampling method. Using semi-structured interviews, information was obtained to achieve the researcher's theoretical saturation. The findings were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin coding methods at open and axial coding levels.Findings: The findings from the analysis of one-to-one interviews indicated that: 1. Loss of information from group discussions; 2. Lack of access to useful resources and links in the courseware; 3. Little information about user/support team participation status; 4. Lack of attention to instructional support to student’s success in courseware; and 5. Inadequate information about the activities of service desk have influenced the motivation and continuous activity in the courseware. Most importantly, these issues affect the users’ attitudes towards e-learning.Conclusion: The study of students' experiences showed that the resource support of the courseware needs more review and attention. Ignoring this dimension of e-learning will create a gap between the potential of technology on learning and its use in practice. In other words, the lack of instructional, counseling and technical support affected users' attitudes towards e-learning. According technology acceptance model, perceived ease-of-use will be affected by usefulness of e-learning system. So that, students will not be inclined to continue their activities using it. Therefore, the present study recommends continuous evaluation of the courseware to identify the behavior pattern of users during the activity in the course and apply the necessary support mechanisms. For example, this goal can be achieved
e-learning
z. seyedi raad; A. H. Tajfar
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quality factors on the success of e-learning systems. This research is based on the EESS model with applying the changes obtained from previous studies and includes various qualitative components such as technical ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quality factors on the success of e-learning systems. This research is based on the EESS model with applying the changes obtained from previous studies and includes various qualitative components such as technical system quality, information quality, educational system quality, service quality, support system quality, learner quality, instructor quality, and content quality. In this study, the effects of these eight qualitative factors on "perceived usefulness" and "perceived satisfaction" as well as the effects of "perceived usefulness" on "perceived satisfaction" have been investigated.Methods: The statistical population includes 270 graduate students of information technology management who were studying in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021 at two universities and were using a learning management system (LMS) with almost similar characteristics. 152 valid questionnaires have been collected. The five Likert scale questionnaire, including 3 general questions and 51 questions related to model variables, was used to collect data. The analysis of research hypotheses was performed using the PLS technique and Smart PLS 3 was applied to administer the tests and examine the hypotheses.Findings: The results of the analysis show that technical quality, learner quality and content quality affect the perceived satisfaction of the e-learning system. Information quality, service quality, educational system quality, support system quality and instructor quality do not affect the perceived satisfaction of the e-learning system. Information quality, learner quality, instructor quality and content quality affect the perceived usefulness of the e-learning system. Technical quality, service quality, educational system quality, and support factors quality do not affect the perceived usefulness. The perceived usefulness significantly affects the perceived satisfaction and also the perceived usefulness and the perceived satisfaction significantly affect the benefits of using the e-learning system.Conclusions: The results of this study empirically confirm the results of other studies on the effect of quality on the success of e-learning systems and show that different qualitative factors affect the benefits of the learners by influencing the "perceived satisfaction" and the "perceived usefulness" and, as a result, they will lead to the success of e-learning systems. The results of statistical analysis show that increasing the quality of the e-learning system can provide the benefits of the learners such as increasing knowledge and academic success, improving the learning process, effective communication with other students and instructors, as well as saving time and money. The research results show the importance of the quality of the learner, the instructor and the content in the success of the e-learning system and this issue shows the importance of education in increasing the technical ability to use the system and examine the methods to increase enthusiasm and encourage the learners and the instructors to use the system as well as adjust the provided course content as much as possible with the level of knowledge and needs of the learners. In addition, increasing the information quality including the existence and availability of the required information, the ease of use, the up-to-dateness and clarity of the information and its presentation method (pens, images, etc.) are greatly effective on the success of the e-learning system. Conducting appropriate research in a statistical population with a different field of study can provide more accurate information about the relationship between the field of study and the success of the e-learning system. In case of finding any differences in the results, the future studies can examine the extent to which customized systems are needed for different fields of study.
e-learning
S. F. Noorani; M. Ahmadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Moodle is a Learning Management System (LMS) that is designed and implemented to provide easy distance learning and e-learning and run any electronic and online learning program. This system is an open-source and can be used in any field of learning. Given the importance and ...
Read More
Background and Objectives: Moodle is a Learning Management System (LMS) that is designed and implemented to provide easy distance learning and e-learning and run any electronic and online learning program. This system is an open-source and can be used in any field of learning. Given the importance and impact of collaborative learning as an educational paradigm, Moodle has provided tools such as wikis, workshops, and forums to provide an environment of collaborative interaction. Peer learning is a form of collaborative learning in which socially equal learners teach and learn from each other. In this paper, we applied Game Theory to design and implement a mechanism to design and run a peer learning environment in Moodle. The proposed mechanism is called GT-Moodle which uses forum tools in the Moodle environment and Prisoner's Dilemma - one of the most famous games in Game Theory- to create a peer learning environment to increase the learners’ motivation in the process of learning. By investigating the education-oriented research conducted in the field of Game Theory, it was found that these research studies have modeled the interaction of teacher/teacher, teacher/learner, learner/learner, and employee/learner. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted to apply the Game Theory in order to create a peer-learning space in a Moodle environment. The space and conditions of the Prisoner’s Dilemma is very similar to those of the peer learning environment. Like Prisoner’s Dilemma in which the cooperation and participation of both players bring more achievement than lack of cooperation and enmity of both of them, in peer learning, the effort and cooperation of both learners in the activities designed for learning lead to more educational achievement and learning for both of the learners. More cooperation in peer learning increases the learning improvement that is the main goal of the GT-Moodle mechanism.Methods: The present research is applied in terms of purpose, and descriptive in terms of data collection and analysis, and quasi-experimental in terms of implementation using post-test design with control and experimental groups. To evaluate, 26 students of discrete mathematics in computer engineering were randomly selected as the experimental group and 27 students were selected as the control group. The GT-Moodle mechanism uses Forum to group and define group activities. This mechanism was performed in several different sessions of the course on the test group and finally, the results of a post-test on the control and test groups were used to evaluate the effect of the proposed GT-Moodle mechanism.Findings: Using the Mann-Whitney U independent group test, the post-test scores of the test group and the control group were compared. The Mann-Whitney U test showed a p-value=0.000<0.05 meaning that there is a significant difference between the mean rank of the experimental and control groups at the level of 5%. Also, the mean rank of the experimental group was 35.31 which is higher than the mean rank of the control group with a value of 19. This indicates a positive effect for the proposed mechanism in this study (GT-Moodle) on learning enhancement.Conclusion: The results of this research can be used and implemented by any educational institution that is going to use peer learning to create a productive learning environment. Since the current Moodle's tools have been used in the design of the proposed mechanism, its implementation does not require additional skills other than those of working with the Moodle, and any instructor with the knowledge of using the Moodle space can easily use the GT-Moodle mechanism.
